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Japan holds national drill simulating massive Nankai Trough earthquake

Xinhua, September 1, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Japanese government held a national disaster drill on Thursday simulating the scenario that a massive quake centering in the Nankai Trough hits central and western Japan.

Under the scenario, a magnitude-9.1 quake struck off the southern coast of Wakayama prefecture, registering up to 7 on the Japanese seismic scale which peaks at 7, and tsunami warnings were issued.

In response to the scenario, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and cabinet ministers held an emergency disaster headquarters' meeting. The prime minister's office also shared information with the prefectures supposedly hit by the quake through a teleconference.

Meanwhile, local governments also held separate drills, with a total of some 1 million people across the country taking part.

A potentially disastrous quake in the Nankai Trough could occur at any time, experts here have reportedly said, adding that Japanese research institutions are now beefing up efforts to monitor and detect signs of such a quake.

Sept. 1 is known as Disaster Prevention Day in Japan, after a magnitude-7.9 earthquake hit Japan's Kanto region on the same day in 1923, killing over 105,000 people. Endit